Cigarette lighter



@ci 3l, 1950 G, P, HARTZELL 2,527,998

CIGARETTE LIGHTER Filed Jan. 17, 1947 ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 31, 1950 UNITED STATES;-l

Georgel?. Hartzell, (lhester,.fPa.1. Application January 17, 1947, Serial No. 722,661

1 Claim.

A further purpose is to-simplify the assembly v and disassembly. y

A further purpose isto provide an opening in a lighter casinginto which a latch protrusion is placed in order that thumb touch contact can be made with the protrusion.

Further purposes will appear in the specificationr and in the claim.

Describing in illustra-tion, but not in limitation and referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of my improved lighter taken on the line l-I of Figure 2.

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 2--2 ofv Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional View taken on the line 3 3 of Figure 1.

Figure4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the upper portion ofthe casing used in my device.

Figure 5 isa perspective view of the cover or movable lid in my invention.

Figure 6 is a perspective View of the spark throwing wheel carrying a ratchet mechanism.

Figure 7 is a detail perspective of the shaft used in the before mentioned figures, drawn to a slightly different scale.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the-tension spring used in my invention.

Figure 9 is a perspective view of the bushing used to mount the spark throwing ratchet wheel.

Figure 10 is a perspective view of a pawl'which operates the ratchet wheel.

Figure 11 is a perspective View of the snuffel4V used in myinvention.

Figure 12 is a perspective view of a dividing wall used to separate the striking-anduid compartments.

Figure 13 is a perspective view of the improved latch of my device. y

Figure 14 is a perspective view of the used in the casing. A

Figure 15 is a fragmentary perspective viewof my lightershowing a thumb in'dot and dash lines against the opening through which the latch is operated and with the cover or lid shown in full base plate' MENT OFFICE;

lines in closed-positionand in dot and dashlines in -openA position.

I amfamiliar with the different puslrbutton release lighters which are on the market.A Y

I believe- Iamthe first to `provide a lighter in which a spring pressed llatch has a protrusion intoan opening bywhichl touch contact of a thumb willcause the lighter mechanism: to opv erate.'

My improved lighter can be made out of pressed metal" parts or die castings which are easily formed, thereby reducing the costof manufacture. However, I have found it desirable tomachine certain` parts making upV the invention.

In Figure 1, Ihave shown the. lighter in crossv section. The casing20 is tubular andhassides;

2|,..22:a nd ends; 23., 24. Theupperedges of my lighter casing are diagonally formed at 25.

The bottom of the casing 20; containsia. base plate 26 (Figure 14). I have found it desirable-to use a base plate of considerable strength inl order toproperly support the casing and provide desirable rigidity to the other structure involved in making upmylighter.

The upper'portion of the casing has.l openings 27, through which a pin or shaft 28 (shown in detail in Figure 7 is inserted. The shaft 28 carries the spark throwing wheel 29 (Figure 6). On.

onefside of the spark throwing wheel I` provide a ratchet mechanism 3U. The ratchet mechanism.v is operated by a pawl3l (Figure 10;).w-hich. is;

also pivoted on the shaft v28, passing through an opening 32 in the pawl structure.

Mounted on the shaft 28 and within the spark throwing wheel 29 is a bushing 33 (Figure 9).. The bushing 33 carries a shoulder 3G which abuts the side of the spark throwing wheel 29 Vopposite from the ratchet. The opposite end of the bushing abuts the pawl 3l. It will be noted that the abutment of the bushing 33 against the pawl v3l causes the pawl 3| to engage one side 35 Vof a cover 36 (Figure 5) and the other side 3l of the cover 33 engages the end 33 of the shoulder 34 of the bushing. v

The shaft 28vis fastened at one side ofthe casing 20 and extends through the casing side of the cover 36 through the bushing 33 pawl 3|, end and through the side 22 of the casing where it is secured to the casing. The shaft is preferably riveted at its rends 39 and 40.

About theV shoulder 3i ofthe bushing I place a coil spring 4l having one of its ends extended at the interior of the cover 36. The front of the cover 36 has a downward extension 44 apertured at 45.

My cigarette lighter is divided into two compartments, 46 for the lighting equipment and 41 for the lighting uid supply. These compartments are formed by a partition 48 (Figure 12) which is made of pressed metal and soldered into place at 49 on one side and 58 on the other to Y engage the walls 23 and 24 of the casing 28. The partition 48 is stepped at 5I, 52 and 53. The step 53 is extended upwardly at 54 with its end 55 presenting a lug, which when assembled fits into an opening 56, in the lower part of the latch 51 (Figure i3) which holds the latch, and helps to secure in place the stepped portion of the partition 48.

The spring latch 51 having its lowerU-bent end 58 tting into the stepped portion 53, carries an upwardly directed rear portion 58 which abuts a vertical wall 59 of the partition 48 to hold the latch member securely in place in the partition 48. The upper end of the latch mechanism is stepped at 58 and carries a protrusion 6| which projects into an opening 62 in the casing. It will be V,noted that the protrusion 6I does not extend beyond the outside line of the casing wall and therefore when the protrusion is in place it will be necessary to have the flexible part oi the users thumb press into the casing and make 1 the necessary touch engagement to operate the lighting mechanism. This will be described hereinafter.

The upper end E8 of the latch 68 is provided with an extension 63 preferably pressed or stamped from the latch material. The extension 63 projects outwardly and into the opening at 45 in the front end 44 of the cover 36. It will be clear that movement of the extension of the spring latch member by touch engagement of the protrusion 6l will move the extension from within the opening 45 to release the cover which is under spring tension, thereby allowing the cover to move upward quickly.

The engagement of the U shaped end 58 in the partition and at 6l through the casing holds the latch in position and aids in positioning the partition.

The partition 4B on its step 5l supports a tube i 64 to form a casing for carrying a sparking insert 65 at one end, with a spring 8B in the casing to press the sparking insert against the spark throwing wheel 25.

The bottom ofthe tube 54 is placed in a recess 61 in the base 26. The spring tension is adjusted by movement of a screw plug 6-8 inserted in an opening 59 in the base 26.

A plug is also inserted into the base 26 to provide means for supplying the compartment with lighting fluid, wicking, and cotton or other uid carrying material.

The lid or cover has inwardly projecting tabs 1i, 12 which make engagement with the tapered sides 13, 14 of the snuing element 15 to hold the snuiiing element in place within the cover 36 in order that the snuiiing element, when the cover on the lighter is in closed position, will snuff out any flame that might be present in the wick 16, when the snufilng element makes contact with the step 52 of the partition 48.

It will be noted that the wick 16 is placed within a sleeve 11 with the sleeve almost ilush with the step 52 but extending downwardly from the step 52 to within the chamber to support the wick 16 where it extends into the liquid chamber 41 of the lighter.

The snuier element 15 is recessed at 18, and in this recess is placed a coil spring 19 which provides spring pressure on the snuffer, the spring being set in the recess withY its opposite end against the interior of the cover 36.

The snuier element 15 is provided with outwardly extending ledges 88, 8 I. I provide notched portions 82 on the cover to t about the ledges to position the snuier when the cover is in closed position. rlhe snuer thus has slight freedom of movement when the cover closes. In assembly, the snuffer and snuier spring can simply be forced into place, deflecting the tabs 1I and 12.

The ratchets 38 upon the spark throwing wheel 29 in the present showing are arranged in quadrants 83, 84, 85 and 86. The pawl 3l which is pivoted upon the shaft 28 is of spring material slitted at 81 to provide for formation of a pawl nger 88, which when the pawl element 3| is placed in position within the cover, will have the end 88 in engagement with either of the ratchet quadrants S5, 84, 85 or 86. The pawl element 3i is held vand guided in place between the sides 35 and 31 of the cover and between one of the ledges 8| of the snuiiing element 15. The forward extension 88 of the pawl element 3l is placed between the snufng element and the interior top portion of the cover so that it is securely guided at all times.

When the cover is raised by release of the latch member 51 by pressing the protrusion 6|, the cover will swing quickly to raise the cover. When this action takes place the end of the pawl 88 will engage against the sides of one of the ratchets to move the spark throwing wheel in a counter-clockwise position.

It will be noted that the pawl end extends generally radial at its extremity.

The serrations or teeth 90 upon the spark throwing wheel impinge against the flint member 65 to throw the sparks in the direction of the wick 16 and thereby ignite the wick. It will be noted that every time the cover is opened the flint wheel or spark thrower will move a quarter of a turn in counterclockwise direction.

By the use of the pressed metal parts employed in my invention, I have found it possible to cut the cost of manufacture to a considerable extent without weakening the structure and without an inferior lighting device. The reason for this is that by the use of metal parts that can be easily assembled and held in position within the casing I have been able toconstruct a lighter which is eicient in performance and well meets the needs of service.

At the top of the casing, close to the wick, I provide openings 9 I ,which will supply `a sufficient quantity of air to have the lighter perform well.

It will be evident that many of the metal parts may be made of die castings without departing from the invention.

It will be evident that by the construction shown in Figure 15 the user cangrasp the lighter with the lingers, as shown, and there will be no interference with the raising operation of the cover, even if the fingers were above the cover as long as the ngers were holding the rearward part oi the casing.

In view of my invention and disclosure variations and modifications to meet individual vwhim or particular need will doubtless become evident to others skilled inthe art, to obtain all or part of the benefits of my invention without copying the structure shown, and I, therefore, claim all such insofar as they fall within the reasonable spirit and scope of my claim.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a lighter, a casing, wick means positioned within the casing, a cover pivoted to the casing, a rectangular snuffer inside the cover having lateral guiding walls cooperating with the cover, having stops limiting movement too far into the cover and having stops against movement too far out of the cover and having a spring socket on its upper end, projecting tabs on the sides of the cover and integral with the cover extending inwardly, in the inward position of the snuier engaged by the stops limiting the inward movement, and in the outward position of the snuffer engaged by the stops limiting the outward movement and spiral spring means in the spring socket 20 urging the snuler away from the top of the cover, the tabs being resilient so that the -snuifer can be forced into the cover for assembly purposes after the tabs have been formed.

GEORGE P. HARTZELL.

6 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 569,267 Williams Oct. 13, 1896 1,060,150 Adamian et al Apr. 29, 1913 1,086,175 Hofmann Feb. 3, 1914 1,975,173 Pennock et al Oct. 2, 1934 2,183,706 Bass Dec. 19, 1939 2,234,298 Bolle Mar. 11, 1941 2,252,676 Zaken Aug. 12, 1941 2,461,330 Lanowehr Feb. 8, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 184,944 Switzerland Sept. 16, 1936 537,397 France June 14, 1921 879,966 France Dec. 10, 1942 

